1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a shredder of a type in which a fed paper is detected by a paper detection sensor and a cutter is activated accordingly, thereby shredding the paper with the cutter. The invention relates more particularly to a paper feed device for shredders, and to a method of feeding papers using such paper feed device for shredders, the paper feed device being mounted on such a shredder and activated by, for instance, depressing a start switch or other means after disposable papers are loaded and set in place in the paper feed device. Thus the papers are automatically fed into the shredder with the paper feed device.
2. Description of the Related Art
There have conventionally been shredders of the type having a slot through which disposable papers are fed and a the paper feed passage, and a cutter is thereby activated and shreds the paper.
To feed a paper automatically into such type of shredders, a paper feed device is mounted over the shredder and activated by, for instance, depressing a start switch or other means after disposable papers are loaded and set in place, and the papers are fed sequentially into the shredder slot using a paper feed mechanism consisting of a feed belt, etc.
For instance, a paper feed device 2 is mounted on a shredder 1 as shown in FIG. 15. The paper feed device 2 is provided with a tray 2b placed over a main body 2a in an inclined position with its right-hand side being higher than the left-hand side as illustrated in the figure, and a feed belt 3 is passed around pulleys 4 and 5 along the inclination of the tray 2b. On the other hand, a pair of paper guides 1b,1b are provided from a paper slot 1a towards a cutter 6, and a paper detection sensor 7 is provided at the position facing a paper feed passage 1c formed between the feed guides 1b,1b.
When in use, disposable papers P are set in place on the tray 2b of the paper feed device 2, and the paper feed device 2 is started to move by, for instance, depressing a start switch, thereby activating feed belt 3 by a paper feed motor 8 to feed disposable papers P, a sheet at a time, from the bottom of the pile, through feed passage 9 and into paper feed passage 1c of the shredder 1. The leading end of the fed paper is detected by the paper detection sensor 7 and the cutter 6 is activated accordingly, thereby shredding paper with the cutter 6.
In such type of shredder 1, however, a design requirement to keep it as compact as possible prohibits the paper detection sensor 7 to be located sufficiently away from the cutter 6. For this reason, the leading end of a paper sometimes reaches the cutter 6 before it is fully activated. This causes paper P to bend or curl, and it may result in paper jamming and other paper feeding troubles.
An objective of this invention is therefore to eliminate these drawbacks seen in the conventional devices, thereby providing a paper feed device for shredders, free from paper feeding troubles, and a method of feeding papers using such a device.